


Longing in Every Note

by Bisexualtrashlord



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Music, Past Character Death, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:45:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14819451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisexualtrashlord/pseuds/Bisexualtrashlord
Summary: It's Taako and Lup's birthday, and Kravitz wants to write him a song. Will Taako appreciate the present, or will he have a different reaction?





	Longing in Every Note

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I'm gay, love, music, and love Taakitz so I had to write another fic for these angels. This can be read separately, but can also be read as a companion piece with "Love in Every Measure" that I wrote a few months ago for Taakitz Week. So we're in the same modern au setting where Kravitz is a conductor and such. I'm super proud of this, so I hope you enjoy! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Kravitz’s fingers dance in the air, moving as if they were moving across the strings. His eyes, though closed, flutter and flick, whenever a trill would appear in the music. His foot tapped on the floor, keeping in time with the music that played in his head. Anything and everything around him melted away. It was just him and his music.

“What’s he doing?” Barry whispers from his spot on the couch.

“I think he’s on a contemporary music bender again,” Lup replies.

“I can, in fact, hear you both,” Kravitz says dryly, opening his eyes and rubbing them.

“Aww damn, we were enjoying the show. So, what were you doing just now, Philip Glass? Conducting the concert we have next month?” asks Lup.

Kravitz shakes his head, “No, I was…uh…I was practicing the song I wrote…for Taako. Your birthdays are next week so I thought I would write something and why are you looking at me like that?”

The look on Lup’s face can only be described as unbridled, unfiltered glee. Her dark eyes were wide and sparkling, mouth hung open in an ear to ear smile, hands clasped in front of her.

“I’m looking like this because that is the sweetest and gayest thing I’ve heard in a while. I haven’t even heard the song yet and I know he’s gonna love it.”

Kravitz smiles sheepishly, “Thanks, I’ve been working really hard on it. You…you don’t think it’s a weird gift, do you?”

“No!” cries Lup.

“Kinda,” said Barry.

“Babe!”

“But it’s good weird. It’s great weird! It’s the best weird, I can’t wait to hear it either,” Barry stammers with a flush in his cheek.

Kravitz snorted, “I guess I’ll take ‘great weird’ over ‘bad weird’ any day.”

“Is that why you’ve been at the theater so late?” Barry asks.

Kravitz nods, “Yeah, I’ve been working on this for two months now.”

“Oooh, secret music, my favorite. It really adds to the drama of it all.” Lup says with a grin.

“Would you…would either of you like to help me? I’m almost done but everything is better with another pair of eyes. Or, two, in this case.”

“Thought you’d never ask! Babe, power up the keyboard!” Lup cries, running to grab her violin case.

As the three worked through the piece, Lup and Barry helping him lightly revise it and offer suggestions, Kravitz felt his confidence boost. Hearing Lup assure him that Taako would like it helped quell the anxiety for now, but how would he feel on the day of the party? He loved what he composed, and knew the music like the back of his hand, but would Taako like it?

What if he was confused by it? What if he didn’t like how Kravitz played? What if he _hated_ it?

**One Week Later**

The party was in full swing. Lup, Barry, Kravitz, and Taako and all their friends gathered in Taako’s backyard, lush and green from flowers and plants fresh from Merle’s shop, the fully bloomed lilacs wafting their sweet perfume across the yard. There was furniture and decorations handmade from Magnus’s garage. The sun began to dip over the horizon, creating a swirl of pinks, purples, and oranges in the warm spring evening. Laughter and love filled the yard as stories were remembered, jokes were told, and gifts were exchanged.

“I hope you like it, Ms. Lup,” Angus said from the soft, cushy ottoman, bouncing with childish anticipation.

“I’m sure I will, honey.” Lup held up and shook the box, a large cube with shiny red wrapping with gold leaves accenting the paper. Eagerly, she ripped the paper and gasped as a smooth, dark makeup box with floral ornamentation was slowly revealed.

“Holy shit, this is beautiful!” Lup cried.

“I made it myself!” Angus chirped.

“You _made_ that?! I’m pretty sure five-year-olds aren’t allowed near saws?” Taako asked

“Well, Magnus helped a lot. I wanted to work on it at school, but they don’t let kids younger than 6th grade into the woodworking rooms. And I’m 11.”

“Angus came up with all the compartments and the schematics. I may have done the carpentry part, but the design and everything is all him,” Magnus said, tousling Angus’s curly hair.

“It has lots of different drawers and stuff for all your makeup. Mr. Taako told me you always complain about how you never have any room for it anymore,” Angus explained, hopping from his seat to show her all the moving parts and secret sections.

“I love it!”

“Ango, what did I tell you about calling me mister? Do I look like I’m 56? I’m not Barry,” Taako said from where he lounged on Kravitz’s lap, nursing a glass of wine.

“I’m only 41,” Barry whined.

“If you stop calling me Ango I’ll stop calling you mister,” Angus said with an adorably smug look.

“I’d hate you if you weren’t so delightfully precocious.”

“First of all, Barry is, like, super handsome and great even if he was 56. Second, I love this gift Angus. It’s literally perfect.”

“I had a hunch you would!”

“’Hunch?’ No one says ‘hunch’ at your age. You’ve been reading too many of those silly books,” said Taako.

“They are thrilling novels of mystery and intrigue and are a feast for the senses,” Angus replied.

“They are pretty good bedtime read, love,” Kravitz added.

Taako turned and glared, “I want a divorce.”

Kravitz snorted, but felt his cheeks redden, “We’re not married…”

“Anyway!” Lup exclaimed. “This is an amazing gift and Angus you are a treasure, and I will cherish this present forever. Bring it in, come on,” Lup held out her arms, and Angus excitedly runs into them, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a hug.

“We’ve accumulated quite the trove, haven’t we, sis?” Taako asked, looking at the two piles for him and Lup. Taako received an ornate rack for all his spices handmade by Magnus, along with a bookcase for his cookbooks from Angus. Lucretia gave him stacks of notebooks and stationary along with intricately designed pens. Merle gifted him brand new herb plants with new pots. Kravitz gave him a gorgeous set of rose gold jewelry.  Even Davenport, who could never stay in one spot longer than three days, sent him delicate wind chimes from his time sailing by Japan.

Upon hearing Taako’s question, Kravitz felt his heart pick up the pace and his hands shake nervously. He attempted to even his breathing before saying,

“Actually, I do have one more present for you,” Kravitz said.

Taako whipped around and faced him, “oh?”

“Yeah, let me go get it; I’ll be back.” Taako slid off his lap and Kravitz rose from the chaise lounge. He glanced at Lup and Barry, the two winking before Kravitz disappeared into the house. He quickly returned with his cello and music stand, the sheet music already on the stand.

“Ooh, a recital?” Taako asked, straightening up with renewed interest, a small smile on his lips.

Kravitz chuckled, easing his nerves for a second, “Something like that.” He straightened the music stand and tuned the cello, the vibrations of the strings soothing him.

“I didn’t know you played cello, Mr. Kravitz!” Angus said with a wide smile.

“He’s a conductor honey, he plays everything,” Taako replied, gazing at Kravitz lovingly.

At the soft eyes and warm gaze, Kravitz felt all his anxiety float away in an instant.

He can do this.

“Taako, this is for you,” Kravitz murmured. He took a breath, closed his eyes, and began to play.

The piece was slow and flowing and gentle, warm radiating from the strings as Kravitz’s played. The strings hummed as if they were like a singing human voice.

When he came up with the idea to write this song, he wrote down anything and everything he loved about Taako to inspire him. He had over ten pages. He loved Taako’s smile, his laugh, the way his eyes would light up when trying out a new recipe. He loved the way he fiercely loved his family. He loved his singing voice, and the way he would dance around the house when the thought no one was looking.

When Lup introduced Taako to him at an event for school, Kravitz knew he was in trouble the moment he saw him. His dry humor and sharp sarcasm won Kravitz over instantly, and every conversation that point on were lively and full of laughter. He discovered Taako’s softer side after they started dating, the side that would show when he would be on the phone with Lup when she had a hard day, or when he would listen with a sympathetic ear if Angus was having a problem at school. Kravitz remembers the exact moment when he fell in love with Taako.

_In Kravtiz’s last year of school, his advisor, Raven Averna, suddenly passed away. She was with Kravitz since the first day he stepped foot on campus. She was an extremely revered and respected member of the faculty, and an exceptional violinist in her spare time. She was Kravitz’s advisor, but soon turned into a mentor and honest friend._

_In the weeks after she died, every note felt sour, each time he picked up an instrument he couldn’t play it. He was numb, he was empty.  Besides, if he couldn’t do music with love, why do it? He came home from another hard day at school, when Taako met him at the door and gently took his face into his hands and asked, “what’s wrong?”_

_Kravitz let the floodgates open and sobbed in the threshold of the door, letting him finally feel the grief and pain he’s been holding finally, finally come out. He sobbed and wept bitterly, every memory he had of her producing a new wash of tears. He buried his neck deep in Taako’s shoulder, hating the way he was messing up Taako’s shirt. Taako took Kravitz’s hand and gently guided him to the couch where he pulled Kravitz into his arms, slowly rocking him and letting him weep, running his hands along his back. He didn’t shush him, or judge him, or tell him to stop. He just held Kravitz and rocked him back and forth. Through his tears, Kravitz told Taako how lost he felt, how scared he was that she was gone. That it felt like he couldn’t do music anymore. Taako listened to each and everything he said, every insecurity, every worry with unconditional sympathy and concern._

_Taako helped Kravitz slowly get back into music, helping him rekindle this love of it little by little. At the end of the year, Kravitz graduated with top honors. If it wasn’t for Taako, Kravitz has no idea where he would be right now._

Every kiss, every smile, every laugh, every memory was written into the music. Kravitz was reaching the climax of the song, his body moving in tandem with the notes. He poured every fiber of his being into playing, for Taako was the reason he kept going in the first place. He _had_ to let Taako know how much he cares for him.

The song ended, on a floating, airy high note. He opened his eyes and was shocked by what greeted him. Everyone’s eyes glimmered with unshed tears. Lup and Barry had looks of pride written on their face; Lup holding a hand over her heart while the other held Barry’s tightly. Magnus dabbed at his eyes with the bottom of his shirt, while Angus lightly sniffled. Taako’s mouth hung open, tears streaming down his face.

“Wh…what did…what did you t-think?” Kravitz asked, his apprehension returning in full force.

As if in a trance, Taako rose from the chaise and walked over to Kravitz and rose shaky hands and held Kravitz’s face.

“I…I….” A loss for words, Taako kissed Kravitz, deeply, his tearstained cheeks wetting his face. Taako wrapped his arms around his shoulders to pull him closer, Kravitz doing the same while he balanced the cello with his other hand.

Lup was the first one to snap out of the trance, clapping vigorously, letting out a squeal in delight. Everyone else followed suit but Taako and Kravitz couldn’t hear them, for they were still lost in each other.

“You wrote that…for me?” Taako asked through a shaky voice.

“Yeah…did you like it?” Kravitz asked, still nervous despite Taako’s reaction.

Taako let out a watery laugh and kissed Kravitz’s nose, pressing their foreheads together.

“It was like magic,” he choked.

Kravitz could finally heave a sigh of relief, “I’m glad. Happy birthday, Taako,” he murmured.

“The happiest,” Taako whispered before kissing Kravitz again.

 

 


End file.
